1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to easy manufactured umbrellas bearing low-energy consumption flashing light visible during night and poor visibility conditions.
2. Background of the Invention
It is unquestionable many pedestrian accidents that occur during night and poor weather conditions are due to poor visibility. During rainy conditions, vehicle operators often find difficulty in being watchful for nearby pedestrians when their focus is on other vehicles on the road. On the other hand, most pedestrians carry umbrellas. The opened umbrellas that they carry could reduce the visibility of the pedestrians. Hence, it is worthwhile to study efforts to reduce this hazard, when the automobile industry and population are ever booming. The idea of having light at the apex of the umbrella could improve visibility of pedestrians during poor weather and night conditions.
A few illuminable umbrellas have been proposed. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,381 to Carver (1977), the design requires a precise position of the conductors in order to connect the electrical current to turn on the light source. This calls for meticulous manufacturing of the umbrella parts. Any slight error during manufacturing will cause the conductors to slide beyond or under the range of contact. Thus, it is not easy to manufacture the umbrella, and prolong use of the umbrella will increase the chance of malfunction. Moreover, the design is not adaptable on automatic umbrellas. The more recent invention of illuminable umbrellas such as, U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,798 to Yang (1993), U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,922 to Andreasen (1992), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,385 to Pennella (1989) features lights not only on the apex of umbrella, but throughout either the hood, tips and skeleton of the umbrella. The disadvantage of this feature is the huge energy consumption costing more energy to power the umbrella.
Most of the inventions of illuminable umbrellas require customary manufacturing to enable the unique features to work. Therefore, the designs are not adaptable to any convention umbrella. Thus, increases the cost of manufacturing, since it requires special made shaft with specified indentation or cutout to enable a switch to be place in it.